bout half the product of the mine is
waste, and only part of that comes up here. A great quantity is dumped
into the old breasts down in the workings to fill them up, and at the
same time to get rid of it easily."

"But isn't there a great deal of coal that would burn in this mountain
of refuse?" asked the girl.

"Yes, indeed, there is; and sometimes the piles get on fire, and then
they seem to burn forever."

"I have an acquaintance in Philadelphia," said Mrs. Halford, "who has
been trying experiments with the dust of these waste heaps. He pressed
it in egg-shaped moulds, and has succeeded in making capital stove coal
from it. The process is at present too expensive to be profitable, but I
have no doubt that cheaper methods will be discovered, and that within a
few years these culm piles will become valuable."

"What's the use of bothering with it when there's an inexhaustible
supply of coal in the ground?" asked Miss Nellie.

"But there isn't," answered Derrick. "This coal region only covers a
limited area, and some time every bit of fuel will be taken out of it. I
have heard that it is the only place in the world where anthracite has
been found. Isn't it, Mrs. Halford?"

"I believe so," answered that lady; "or at least the only place in which
anthracite of such fine quality as this has been discovered. Inferior
grades of hard coal are mined in several other localities, and
bituminous or soft coal exists almost everywhere."

From the culm pile they went to see the great pumping-engine, and the
huge fans that act as lungs to the mine, constantly forcing out the foul
air and compelling fresh to enter it. Then, as the day was growing warm,
they did not care to go any farther, but went back towards the house to
prepare for their descent into the mine.

On their way they stopped to call on Mrs. Sterling at Derrick's home,
which, covered with its climbing vines, offered a pleasing contrast to
the unpainted, bare-looking houses lining the village street beyond it.
Here both Mrs. Halford and Miss Nellie were greatly interested in Bill
Tooley, of whom they had already heard. He could not be induced to enter
into conversation with them, merely answering, "yes, 'm" or "no, 'm" to
their questions; but from what he said after they had gone he evidently
thought their call was intended solely for him. For a long time he
cherished it in his memory, and often spoke of it as a most wonderful
event.

Derrick took this opportu